


In his arms

by tinyarmedtrex



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie Has Nightmares, M/M, Richie will help, Soft Boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-18 00:38:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16107086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyarmedtrex/pseuds/tinyarmedtrex
Summary: Based on the following Prompt:  losers all live together in college and Eddie keeps having nightmares and goes to Richie's bed for comfort





	In his arms

It started innocently enough. One night, Eddie was woken up abruptly from a nightmare. In it he was trying to escape from some sort of demon clown (or was it a werewolf? Or a leper? He wasn’t sure) that was chasing him, following him no matter how fast he ran. It was closing on him, with teeth gnashing and red eyes fixated on Eddie, looking at him like he was an afternoon snack. 

“No! Nooo!” Eddie wailed in his bed, fighting to protect his child self from the much larger creature. It nearly had him, he felt finger tips touch his shirt more than once and knew it would have him soon but he had to keep running.  

“Eds!”

Eddie heard his name but didn’t register it, too busy trying to keep rows of teeth from chomping down on his arm. 

“Eddie!” 

He heard it again and this time felt someone shaking him. He tried to fight them off, still screaming, but part of him realized that these hands didn’t belong to an enemy, and the person calling his name wasn’t trying to hurt him. 

His eyes snapped open. Richie was shaking him, repeating his name over and over. 

“What? What happened?” Eddie asked, confused. He was soaked in sweat and trembling, panting as he looked at Richie.

“You were having a nightmare Eds. A bad one, from the sound of it.” Richie said, his voice low and comforting. His eyes were fixed on Eddie, full of concern. “But you’re okay now. I’m here.”

Eddie nodded, looking around his room, remembering where he was. His room, in the house he shared with Richie and the other losers. Somewhere safe. He took deep, heaving breaths trying to calm his hummingbird heart rate. “I’m okay.” He repeated. 

Richie nodded, hands still on Eddie’s shoulders. “You’re okay.” 

“Thanks. Sorry for waking you up.” Their rooms shared a wall, which had lead to some awkward overheard moments for both but the others refused to sleep near Richie, knowing how loudly he liked to play his music. Eddie never minded it, he could tell Richie’s moods by what music he played and didn’t mind falling asleep to his eccentric choices. 

Richie was still looking at him, unconvinced. “Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”

Eddie shook his head. “I’ll be fine.” He felt the dream already slipping away. He had forgotten most of it already, something about lobster arms? He furrowed his brow, that didn’t make any sense. 

“You sure?” 

Eddie nodded. “I think I’ll make some tea.” He wasn’t sure he could fall back asleep now, his bed didn’t feel warm and inviting like it normally did. 

“I’ll join you.” Richie said and stood, waiting for Eddie and not giving him a chance to argue. 

Together they quietly padded to the kitchen, where Eddie made them two sleep teas and they talked for a while. Eddie hadn’t seen Richie much since he got a late night internship at a radio station, something he loved but put him on a different schedule than Eddie’s.  With seven people in the house there was always someone home but Eddie missed Richie. He missed his terrible jokes, the constant easy touches, the way his smile filled the room. 

Eddie sighed to himself, silently admitting how much he missed all of Richie- even if he wouldn’t let himself admit the reason.

“I’m going to turn in.” Eddie said, yawning widely. “I need to get up in 2 hours.” He had started a job at a hospital, taking shifts between classes to get his nursing degree. The early hours were killing him but he loved the work.

Richie ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking it up at odd angles. “Will you be okay?”

Eddie smiled warmly and nodded. “I will. Because of you.” Eddie turned and rinsed out their cups, missing Richie’s reaction to his words.

Eddie had thought that would be the end of it. A comforting gesture for his one time nightmare. 

Until he had another nightmare the next week. And again Richie had to wake him up, convincing him that he was safe, that he wasn’t being chased.  

Eddie woke up in Richie’s arms, cradled against him. “You’re okay, you’re okay.” Richie repeated, whispering into his hair. 

Eddie let himself be held by Richie for a minute, enjoying the way his long arms wrapped around him. 

“I’m fine Richie.” Eddie finally said, pushing himself back. He knew letting himself get held by Richie would only lead to heartache on his part, when his brain started wondering if there was more between them. 

“You were screaming bloody murder.” Richie told him, looking worried. 

“It was just a nightmare, I’m okay now.” Eddie told him. “I’ll try to go back to sleep, i’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Richie looked at Eddie, concerned. “I don’t think you will be.” He hesitated and Eddie could see he had something on his mind. “Do you want to, um, sleep in my bed? That way if you have another one, I’ll be there.” 

Eddie looked up at Richie, who was chewing on his bottom lip nervously. Part of Eddie knew this was a bad idea but a larger part of him was thinking about how safe he felt in Richie’s arms, and how much better he would sleep next to his friend. 

“Are you sure?” He asked and Richie nodded. “Why don’t you just sleep here?”

Richie looked at Eddie and his bed, shaking his head. “Eds, you have a twin, we’re not 15 anymore.” He stood, offering Eddie a hand, “Come sleep in my queen, my king.”

Eddie snorted and stood. “Sweep me away, good sir.” 

“Happily.” 

Richie lead Eddie to his bed, insisting that he take the better pillow and his preferred side of the bed. Eddie’s heart fluttered that Richie remembered. Even though the pair hadn’t shared a bed for years it was easy to fall into the old ways, Richie started out on the opposite side of the bed but by morning he was spooning Eddie, arms wrapped around Eddie’s waist. 

And Eddie promised himself that this was a one time thing. Because of whatever unspoken thing they had between them. Because he couldn’t take the fall out when Richie brought home a new girlfriend or boyfriend and Eddie had to think about them waking up like this. It wasn’t a good road to go down. 

But then the next week Eddie was again woken up from a nightmare by Richie and this time when Richie asked Eddie nodded and let himself be lead into Richie’s bed without any argument. Richie pulled him close, telling Eddie that he was safe, that he would keep Eddie safe and Eddie believed him. 

It quickly became a thing, Eddie’s nightmares became more frequent and Richie was always there to wake him up and invite him into his bed. 

One day, over a month later, Richie had just pulled Eddie into his room and paused before they crawled into the bed. “What’s wrong?” Eddie asked, wondering if Richie had changed his mind. Maybe he was sick of having Eddie in his bed, sick of Eddie needing him so much. Eddie wouldn’t blame him. He steeled himself for Richie to let him down gently. 

But Richie’s words surprised him. 

“Why don’t you just sleep here?” Richie suggested. “You end up here more nights than not. And you never have nightmare when you’re here.” 

“Are- are you sure?” Eddie asked, surprised. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

Richie brought his hand to Eddie’s cheek, cradling it. “You’re never a bother Eds.” He said earnestly, looking into Eddie’s eyes. 

Eddie swallowed, wanting to say something. He could feel the weight of the moment, and knew what it could mean, that it could change everything. He fought to find the right words. But Richie, always the talker, spoke first. 

“Say you’ll stay.” 

Eddie nodded. “I’ll stay.” 

Richie’s face broke into a grin and he took Eddie’s hands again, leading him to the bed. “Excellent.”

Another month passed, Eddie had no idea how none of the others had figured out yet. Eddie would crawl into Richie’s bed every night, sometimes with Richie there, other times on his own, waking up when Richie came back from his late night shift.

Eddie didn’t want to admit to himself how much he liked it, falling asleep in Richie’s arms and waking up tangled together, limbs sprawled and chests pressed close. He was starting to think that he couldn’t sleep without Richie nearby and a part of him worried about what would happen when he had to.

He found out sooner than he wanted, Richie went home for a long weekend, his quarterly trip to see his parents. Eddie went back to his bed, trying to fall asleep in the now strange mattress. He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He weighed his options and decided that there was only one where he would actually get any sleep. He got up and went to Richie’s bed. The familiar smell comforted him and he finally fell asleep. 

The next night he again crawled into Richie’s bed, missing having the lanky form next to him. He reminded himself that all this was temporary, that their arrangement couldn’t last. 

As Eddie thought this his phone rang and he grabbed it, sitting up when he saw that it was a facetime call from Richie.

“Heya Spaghetti Man,” Richie said, his face filling the illuminated screen.

“Hey,” He sighed, happier than he wanted to admit to see Richie’s broad grin and buck teeth. “Why are you calling?”

Richie chewed on his lip, not answering. Finally he shrugged, “Wanted to make sure you were okay.” 

Eddie’s heart sang, hearing that Richie was worried about him. “I’m fine. I-” Eddie stopped himself from saying that he missed Richie, worried about how it would sound. 

Richie didn’t seem to notice, he was looking around Eddie, not at him. “Eds, are you- are you in my room?”

Eddie flushed. “Yes, I, um, I couldn’t sleep last night. So I came in here. I can leave though, if it’s weird. It’s weird isn’t it? I’ll go back.”

“No!” Richie cried as Eddie stood. He paused and Richie continued. “No, you can stay there. It’s probably better than your tiny bed. Someone might as well enjoy my fancy sheets.”

“Richie, your sheets are from target.” 

“But I sprung for the ones with spaceships.” Richie told him, grinning. “Stay there, tell me about your day.” 

Eddie hesitated and then laid back down. He didn’t want to leave anyway, and Richie seemed happy that he was there. “I got to cuddle cuddle some premies today.” He started.

“You with babies, I can’t imagine anything cuter.” 

“Stop.” Eddie said, watching as Richie laid down too. Both were on their sides and it almost felt like Richie was there, talking to him like normal. “Then one spit up on me.”

Richie laughed and Eddie smiled, continuing his story about his day then asking Richie about his. Eddie woke up the next morning, still curled up next to his phone. 

Richie called him the next night too, the two talking until Eddie fell asleep. When Richie came home the next day Eddie practically launched himself into Richie’s arms, which lead to several long looks from the other losers. 

“I missed you.” He said, refusing to be embarrassed.

Richie smiled down at him, arms wrapped around Eddie, “Missed you too.” He said softly, brushing some of Eddie's hair off his face. 

“Hey Eddie, maybe let the rest of us say hi?” Bev said when the two didn’t break apart. 

He flushed and moved aside. “Yea, sorry.”

All day Eddie thought about how he was playing with fire. This had gone on too long and it was too much, Eddie couldn’t handle waking up in Richie’s arms anymore, not if they were just friends. Part of his was surprised he lasted this long.

That night he went to Richie’s room again but stood in the doorway. Richie looked at him then patted the bed, “Come on darling, plenty of space.”

Eddie shook his head. “I can’t Richie, I can’t do this.” 

Confusion flashed on Richie’s face. “Do what?”

Eddie let out a strangled laugh. “This! Us! It’s not normal- sleeping with your best friend every night.” He swallowed, briefly debating about saying the next piece but then he continued.  “And it’s not, it’s not enough. Not for me. I can’t have just this.” He paused again. “I don’t want just this.” He was terrified for what he had just admitted but there was no going back now. He wanted for Richie to recoil, or to try and let him down easy. 

Instead Richie stood and walked over to Eddie, grabbing his hands before saying, “Eds, do you really think that that’s was all this was?” Richie’s tone was kind, if slightly bemused. 

Eddie gave a small shrug. “You never said, I thought it was just my nightmares.” 

“It was never just that, even at the start. It’s always been about you and me, and whatever you want that to mean.” 

Eddie’s next sentence came out small, he was still worried he was reading things wrong. “I want you.” He forced himself to look at Richie when he said it. “Do you- want me?”

Richie gave him a small smile, “Eds, all I’ve ever wanted was you.” He said, leading Eddie back to his bed. 

When Eddie woke up the next morning all his doubt had disappeared and Eddie knew that he was exactly where he was supposed to be. 

**Author's Note:**

> Send in some prompts[here!](https://reddielibrary.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Find me on tumblr [tinyarmedtrex>](https://tinyarmedtrex.tumblr.com/)


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